Puerto Rico competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics held in Calgary, Canada, between 13 and 28 February 1988. It was the territory's second appearance at the Winter Olympics, having made its debut at the previous 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. The Puerto Rican delegation consisted of nine athletes competing in three sports. Puerto Rico did not win any medals at the Games.
Background The Puerto Rico Olympic Committee was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1948. Puerto Rico made its first Olympic appearance at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, and its Winter Olympics debut at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. The 1988 Winter Olympics was the nation's second consecutive appearance at the Winter Olympics.
The 1988 Winter Olympics was held in Calgary, Canada, between 13 and 28 February 1988. Alpine skier Mary Pat Wilson was the Puerto Rican flagbearer during the opening ceremony. Puerto Rico did not win a medal at the Games.
Competitors Nine Puerto Ricans including eight men and a woman competed across three sports in the Games. SportMenWomenTotalAlpine skiing 5 1 6Biathlon 1 – 1Luge 2 0 2 Total 8 1 9
Alpine skiing
Puerto Rico qualified six athletes for the alpine skiing events at the 1988 Winter Olympics. This marked the territory's debut in the sport at the Winter Olympics. The alpine skiing events were held at the Nakiska Ski Resort on Mount Allan.
Mary Pat Wilson was the sole female alpine skier in the delegation, becoming the first woman to represent Puerto Rico at the Winter Olympics. Five men represented Puerto Rico in the alpine skiing events including Mary Pat Wilson's brother Kevin Wilson. The Wilson siblings were both born in Virginia in the United States, and had trained together for the Games.
In the men's events, Kevin Wilson recorded the best finish, after being classified in 43rd in the slalom. He finished 61st in the giant slalom. Jason Edelmann finished 52nd in both the super-G and slalom events. Félix Flechas and Walter Sandza both completed the giant slalom in 67th and 66th places respectively. Flechas did not finish the super-G while Sandza finished 56th. Jorge Torruellas did not finish the men's slalom event. In the women's events, Mary Pat Wilson was disqualified in the giant slalom and did not finish the slalom.
AthleteEventRun 1Run 2TotalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankJason EdelmannMen's super-G colspan="4" 2:09.9352Men's giant slalomMen's slalom1:48.341:10.382:58.7252Félix FlechasMen's super-G colspan="4" Men's giant slalom1:38.011:34.993:13.0067Walter SandzaMen's super-G colspan="4" 2:25.9556Men's giant slalom1:35.341:33.433:08.7766Jorge TorruellasMen's slalomKevin WilsonMen's super-G colspan="4" Men's giant slalom1:26.311:22.882:49.1961Men's slalom1:21.731:13.452:35.1843Mary Pat WilsonWomen's giant slalomWomen's slalom
Biathlon
Puerto Rico qualified one athlete, Elliot Archilla, for the biathlon events at the 1988 Winter Olympics, marking the territory's debut in the sport at the Winter Olympics. This was Archilla's only participation in the Winter Olympics.
The biathlon events were held at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Archilla competed in both the 10 km sprint and the 20 km individual events. In the sprint event, held on 23 February 1988, he recorded a time of 47:47.4 with six missed targets, and finished last out of 72 competitors. In the individual event, held on 25 February 1988, he recorded an adjusted time of 1:51:57.6 with 13 missed targets, and finished 68th out of 72 competitors.
Athlete Event Time Misses Rank Elliot ArchillaSprint 47:47.4 6 72Individual 1'51:57.6 13 68
Luge
Puerto Rico qualified two athletes for the men's singles luge event at the 1988 Winter Olympics: George Tucker and Raúl Muñiz. The luge events were held at the Canada Olympic Park sliding track in Calgary.
Tucker had represented Puerto Rico at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, where he had been the territory's sole competitor, finishing last in the luge event. His appearance in Sarajevo marked the first participation by a Caribbean athlete at the Winter Olympics. Tucker is a physicist, and was a doctoral student at Wesleyan University at the time of the 1984 Games. Muñiz, born in Albany, New York to Puerto Rican parents, had been introduced to the sport by Tucker when they met at Lake Placid in 1984.
In the event, Tucker finished 34th out of 38 competitors with a combined time of 3:27.125, while Muñiz finished 31st with a combined time of 3:20.962.
AthleteEventRun 1Run 2Run 3Run 4TotalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankGeorge TuckerMen's singles50.7483650.2493451.6883354.440363:27.12534Raúl Muñiz50.1843549.8493350.4803250.449333:20.96231
References
External links Official Olympic Reports Olympic Winter Games 1988, full results by sports-reference.com